Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting has become a popular health trend — but is it actually helpful, especially for women in midlife who are navigating stress, hormonal changes, grief, or starting over? In this episode, we break down what intermittent fasting really is, the potential benefits, different ways to approach it, and how to discern whether it’s a healthy option for you — not just what works on social media.

Transcript

Hello, my name is Tiffany, and welcome to the podcast, Working on Amazing. This is a podcast where we talk about the work that it takes to rebuild an amazing life. Now, on today's episode, we're gonna be a little more help-focused.

It's the beginning of the year at time of recording. What is intermittent fasting? So this may have come up on your newsfeed, you may have heard somebody talk about it, or seen something about it.

So let's break it down. Just because it's a popular trend doesn't mean it's right for you, but it doesn't mean it's wrong. What is it?

What isn't it? Is it a good thing for you to try? It is something that I tried after my divorce, when I was kind of starting over.

This is one of the things I tried. I tried several things. I had gained some weight, and I really wanted to lose weight.

And intermittent fasting worked for me, but it doesn't necessarily work for everybody, and that's okay. So let's just kind of break down, what are some of the potential benefits of it? What are different ways to approach it?

How do you know if it's a healthy option for you? Let's just kind of break it down, because when you see it on social media, it sounds like this be-all, end-all thing that is just amazing. And that's not necessarily the case.

It may work for you. And let's talk about how you can try it. And it may not.

And that's okay, too. None of these ideas are one size fits all, even when it comes to health. We want to be healthier, but it doesn't mean that just because intermittent fasting worked for me means it will work for you.

Let's just talk about what it is and what it isn't, and how do we approach it. So, what is intermittent fasting? What I liked about it was it wasn't about what you ate.

It wasn't about calorie restrictions or food restrictions. It was about when you ate, okay? So, it's the timing of your food and when you eat, and you have a window when you do eat and a window when you don't eat.

And to me, that was easier than counting calories. I had joined a group at work, and we were all counting our calories in an app.

And everything we ate, we would put into this app to see where we were and how many calories we would or wouldn't have left over at the end of the day. And to me, that was a very tedious process. Some people may like that.

That may be more your speed. But for me, I did it for a few weeks, but it felt very tedious.

And the idea of just saying, I can eat during this window of time, and I don't eat during this other window of time, breaking up my day like that, was easier to accomplish. It didn't...

I wasn't tracking and counting and restricting, you know, certain foods and certain calories. So the idea at its core for intermittent fasting is to give your body a break from constant digestion.

So there is a school of thought that does say, eat several small meals throughout the day and keep your body, you know, fed.

And then there's this other end of the spectrum, which is intermittent fasting, that says give your body a break from constant digestion.

It supposedly allows your insulin levels to lower and encourages metabolic flexibility, which I don't even fully understand what that means, but it's not starvation, okay?

The idea isn't to starve yourself, is to give you a window of time where you don't eat, and a window of time where you do eat. And that's why it may not be right for everybody, but it could be right for you.

It's not about pushing or being extreme, it's just about having a window of time where you're like, during this window of time, I'm not going to eat.

4:15

Potential Benefits

Now, there are a lot of potential benefits that you may experience with intermittent fasting.

I didn't experience all of these, but I tried to be a little bit thorough in my research about intermittent fasting, so I could just tell you what everybody's saying, so you can get it all in one place, and then kind of make a better and informed

decision. Okay, so there are five potential benefits from intermittent fasting. Now, do remember that everybody is different, and your particular body might respond differently than somebody else's.

So these are potential benefits of intermittent fasting. And number one is improved blood sugar and insulin sensitivity. I, my whole life, felt like I struggled with blood sugar issues.

It wasn't extreme. Well, when I was pregnant, it was extreme. I had very, very low blood sugar.

So they know what to do when you have high blood sugar. They don't always know how to help you when your blood sugar just naturally runs low and then drops. They're like, eat a hard candy.

I don't know. So figuring out my whole life, you know, it's like eating protein. So you have that slow release of stable blood sugar.

So I've always looked to things that would help me potentially stabilize my blood sugar. And they say intermittent fasting is one of the things that can help your blood sugar regulate better with energy stability and reduce sugar craving.

So it helps supposedly for some people insulin and blood sugar sensitivities. It kind of helps level those out. Like I said, everybody's results may vary, but that's one of the things people talk about.

The other thing people say is it could be good for your metabolic health and weight regulation. So like some people notice reduced inflammation. I always feel like I struggle with inflammation.

And maybe that's because I had a major auto accident, maybe it's because of my age, maybe it's who knows. But so reduced inflammation would have been a marker. I would have really appreciated saying, I can't testify to that personally.

I didn't notice reduced inflammation, but some people say they know that. Some people noticed improved fat metabolism.

So your body metabolizes the food in a more efficient way, because it knows it has a window of digestion, and then there's a window where it doesn't digest. And so your metabolism supposedly kicks up, which I did notice that.

And some people notice weight stabilization or weight loss. Not everybody notices weight loss. I did feel like I lost a little bit of weight and was able to maintain a lower weight when I was doing intermittent fasting.

The third thing that people will tell you with intermittent fasting is some people experience more mental clarity and focus, like clearer thinking, fewer energy crashes. You know how you can have an energy crash, like in the afternoon at 2 or 3 p.m.

Like, oh my word, how am I going to finish this day? I need another cup of coffee at work or something like that.

Some people, once their blood sugar stabilizes and they get everything leveled out and their body is running more efficiently on what it has, then you have fewer energy crashes. Some people report improved focus, especially in the morning.

Another thing that some people report as a potential benefit of intermittent fasting, number four, is a digestive reset, which can be good, you know? Our gut is running all the time.

So taking moments where you don't consume food can help reduce bloating. It can increase or improve your gut health, your gut comfort. It supports overall digestion because it's not constantly turning.

It's giving your gut a break. So sometimes people notice that they're not as bloated, their stomach feels better. And the last thing that is a potential benefit from trying intermittent fasting is it gets rid of that constant decision making.

Like I said, you're not constantly tracking on an app how many calories you're eating or what food you're eating. I was scanning barcodes, all kinds of stuff. It's a gentle structure and it's not got a lot of detail to follow.

It's more time-based and not food restriction-based. And for some people, that just simplifies things. All right.

So those are some benefits or potential benefits. Like I said, everybody's different. You know, your results may vary, but those are some of the potential benefits that people talk about with intermittent fasting.

And it has kind of blown up on social media. It's pretty trendy.

10:09

Fasting Schedules

What are ways that you can actually approach intermittent fasting? So, intermittent fasting is 100%, not one size fits all. So here's some common options of ways to try it.

Okay, so the gentle start for intermittent fasting is 12-12. So a day is 24 hours, so you would have 12 hours where you eat, and 12 hours where you don't eat. Okay, that's pretty simple.

So think of it like at 7 p.m., you stop eating. So you kind of have an earlier dinner, and then you don't eat, you don't get a snack after dinner. You don't do anything like that, you go to sleep, and when you wake up at 7 a.m., you can eat again.

That's really simple, it's not hard to do. Really, the only thing you're probably eliminating in the 12-12 model is maybe an after-dinner snack, or you're saying, I'm going to eat a little bit earlier. Because stopping eating at 7 p.m.

might be a challenge for some people. I know a lot of people eat later than that. And now, I eat early because I did intermittent fasting, okay?

So, if you just did 12-12, you had 12 hours of time you ate, and you can eat what you want, and then 12 hours where you don't eat. That's a beginner-friendly, gentle way to start, all right?

You could also, then, the next step might be if you think, well, I think I could go longer. That really wasn't that hard. You could do, like, 14-10.

So, 14 hours of fasting, 10 hours of a window where you could eat. So, for an example, that might be 7 p.m. you stop eating, but then you wait to eat, not at 7 a.m., but maybe till 9 a.m., okay?

So, you have your breakfast, you push it back a couple hours. And that could work well.

I tended to do something like that, where, you know, I stopped eating, I didn't eat after 7, and then I had a late breakfast, or some days, I would skip breakfast. I'm not a big breakfast eater, all right?

Now, the most popular intermittent fasting, one of the things you'll hear about a lot, is a 16-8, and that's where you have 16 hours of fasting, and eight hours where you eat. And so, that would be if you quit eating at 7 p.m., right?

So, we have a consistent theme in my example, but you could move it wherever you wanted. If you stopped eating at 7 p.m.

at night, you go to sleep, you wake up, if you're not a breakfast person, and you skip breakfast, then you just eat an early lunch at 11 a.m.

And then you've had 16 hours of fasting, and you have eight hours where you eat your lunch and your dinner, and you're pretty okay.

Now, some people, and this isn't recommended if you're in the middle of a high stress season in your life, or going through a lot of other stuff, but some people could do, you know, 18 hours of fasting and a six hour window.

Now, I do want to say that longer fasting periods don't necessarily mean better results, okay? These are some approaches. These are popular, like, timeframes.

But you kind of got to try it and decide what's right for you. If intermittent fasting does work for you, what amount of time to fast versus not fast works for you? What fits right?

Some people have to have breakfast. That's just part of their routine, and their body craves that. They need that.

I am not a big breakfast person, so skipping breakfast, there are days that I think, oh, I'm kind of hungry. But those are unusual days, okay? I tend to be good with skipping breakfast.

I've never really liked to eat breakfast. And that's just, I think, my metabolic makeup, the way my body chemistry works. Everybody's different.

If you are kind of somebody who's like, eh, that's not a big deal for me, this might work for you. Or you could shift the times around where there's something like, I don't want to eat late, you know, whatever.

But those are some common ways to go about intermittent fasting, some common time blocks. And once again, you kind of got to try it and see what works for you. You know, you might try the 12-12 and say, no, I could go a little bit longer.

I could just eat a late breakfast. Or you might try and say, no, I'm hungry. I need to eat after dinner.

All right. So it's just trying it and seeing how it works.

15:31

Good Candidates

Now, how do you know if it might be right for you? Well, intermittent fasting could be a good option if you feel better with fewer meals. Everybody is different.

Some people really like to graze throughout the day. I had a child that grazed throughout the day, and she didn't eat a whole big meal necessarily.

Even if we had a meal, she would eat a little bit, but she ate a lot of different times, but not a lot of food at one setting. Does that make sense? She was much more of a grazer.

So, intermittent fasting would not be right, probably, I would think, for my child, because I just see their natural inclination to grazing. But some people aren't that way. I don't graze like that.

I have to remind myself sometimes, oh yeah, it's time to eat lunch or whatever. So, if you feel better with fewer meals, it could be right for you. If you don't wake up starving, this could be something that works for you.

I don't wake up starving. That's not my first thought. My first thought might be coffee.

But my first thought isn't food. That's just not something that I necessarily want, or need, or think about. If you wake up and you are starving, intermittent fasting may not work for you.

But if you wake up and you're like, yeah, breakfast, give or take, it could, this could be a system that works for you. All right? If you have stable energy when you're fasting.

So if you start pushing that morning, like breakfast later, do you still have stable energy if you're fasting in the morning? You've fasted since, as the examples I gave you, from 7 p.m.

at night, at 8 a.m., are you still stable with your energy at 9 a.m.? Are you okay? It could be a good thing for you if you're not emotionally triggered by food restrictions.

Some people have a history and certain things, and food restrictions, even the timing, that just really bothers them and triggers them. So if you don't have that trigger, this could be something to try. But if you do, this might not be right for you.

Okay? It won't be right for you.

18:01

Fasting Contraindications

Intermittent fasting probably won't be right for you if you feel dizzy, anxious, weak when you're fasting. Look, there could be a different program that works for you.

You don't have to push yourself to try intermittent fasting if you don't feel good while you're doing it, okay? If you feel weak and dizzy, this isn't going to be the thing for you, and that's okay.

If you struggle with disordered eating patterns, this might not be right for you. If the timing being different, if that is a struggle for you, like, I can't eat after this time, that's okay. This might not be right for you.

If you're in a really high stress season in your life, and this podcast is 100% designed for women who feel like they're starting over, and a lot of times that's high stress, you're in the middle of grief, in the middle of things changing, this is an

option once things get stable, and you're in a routine, and you're ready to tackle something. But if you're in the middle of just really high emotions, this may not be the right method for you at this time. And that's okay.

If you have hormonal issues that get worse when you fast, so we know middle-aged women, our hormones kinda can be all over the place sometimes, like our estrogen is dropping, and all this crazy stuff, and I'm like, how do I balance my hormones

naturally? So if you notice when you're fasting, this really messes with your hormones, this is probably not right for you, okay? And if you feel any type of guilt or shame around the timing of when you eat, this might not be right for you, okay?

So your body matters the most, so listen to what your body says. And it's okay to try this out and see if you like it. And it's completely okay to stop it.

It's okay to decide it's not right for you. If it's right for you, that's awesome. I'm glad we talked about it, and you have a new tool to try.

But just because it worked for me or works for somebody else doesn't mean that it's going to work for you, okay? Your body has been through a lot. If you're a middle-aged woman, your body's been through a lot.

It's carried you a number of years. You potentially have carried children. We've got to be gentle with our bodies.

And even when we want to lose weight and stabilize our blood sugar or this or that, we've got to do it in a gentle and healthy way. Okay?

This is about caring and consistency and compassion for our bodies, because we want to do what's good for our body and what's good for us. So it is 100% okay if you try it and think, you know what, this isn't for me.

It is good, like I said, for some people. It was good for me to not think about the details of my food, to just think about the window of time where I could eat. That was like, it made it easy.

It made it a no-brainer. For the way my mind works and my body works, it was a good fit, all right?

21:26

Fasting Guidance

Just know that if you do try intermittent fasting, start slow. Start with the 12-hour fast. That can be really beneficial.

I think you can notice a big benefit by just eating dinner a little bit earlier and skipping your after-dinner snack.

I mean, that really makes a big difference, not giving your body a little bit of time to digest the food before you lay down and sleep. I know people who've noticed a big difference, just eliminating that right there.

So start slow, and do prioritize nourishment during your eating windows. This doesn't mean all junk food. This isn't like a blank check to just go crazy.

This is like still eat good, healthy, nourishing foods that your body needs. Feed it the vitamins and the minerals and the protein and the good stuff, okay? And pay attention to your stress levels and to your sleep.

Focus on how you feel and not just the results, all right? I think health is not about doing more. It's about doing what supports your life right now.

So you might do this for a season, and then the next season, you might do something totally different. But whether intermittent fasting becomes a part of your journey or not, the goal is the same.

We want to feel stronger, we want to feel steadier, and more at home in our body as we move forward, all right? So I hope this was kind of an informative breakdown about intermittent fasting by somebody who's not trying to sell you something.

I'm not trying to sell you a program. Half the things on social media, they're trying to sell you a program, they're trying to do this or that.

I'm trying to give an honest, realistic breakdown of what it is, because we've heard about it, we've seen people talk about it, but what is it and how to know if it's right for you? I hope I answered those questions for you today.

I would love to know if you want to try intermittent fasting, if you think that would work for you. If you would like to reach out and talk to me, you can, you can find me online, www.workingonamazing.com. You can also find me on social media.

I really do hang out on Facebook the most, and that's just a page called Working on Amazing. Drop me a line. Let me know if intermittent fasting works for you.

Let me know if it didn't work for you. We are all different. And once again, this is not a one size fits all, but I hope it was informative and you learned something new.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I look forward to talking to you next time. Bye.